HERS Certifications & CALGreen Inspections

We offers HERS  (Home Energy Rating System Ratings) Certifications throughout the San Francisco Bay region. A Home Energy Rating is a requirement for many green building and energy efficient building standards prescribed by the CA Building CODE, Section Title 24.

HERS Rater Field Verifications and Certifications are mandated by the 2022 Buidling Energy Efficiency Standards - Title 24 of the California CALGREEN CODE. 

HERS Raters are defined as:  "Construction Workers who support the construction, operation, inspection, and maintenance of construction sites and construction projects (including housing construction)."

A Home Energy Rating System (HERS) is a process of administering diagnostic analysis to determine and produce data that provides a method of evaluation for a California State approved home energy efficiency ratings. This establishes a benchmark of a home's energy use and identifies necessary and/or best possible upgrades for homeowners.

J R CONSTRUCTION - SOL SOLUTIONS, Inc. is registered with two providers whereby it registers its certifications to the California Energy Commmission (CEC).  These two providers are CHEERS (www.calenergy.org), and CalCERTS (www.calcerts.com).

In 2003 CalCERTS, Inc. was approved by the California Energy Commission to become a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Provider. The company's mission is to fill the growing need in the Energy Efficiency industry for a technically superior, yet customer-oriented HERS Provider. CalCERTS, Inc. is a private organization that provides service, support, training and certification to HERS raters.

HERS raters are independent contractors who are either independently operated or who sub-contract to larger energy rating firms. Raters charge their customers for site ratings and pay a fee to CalCERTS, Inc. for processing the ratings and issuing certification.

CalCERTS, Inc. has developed and owns its own software which is approved by the California Energy Commission and is utilized by the HERS rater to enter rating data. CalCERTS, Inc. maintains the computer based registry of data as a repository of information that can be accessed by the HERS rater, building departments, contractors and government agencies.  J R Construction-Sol Solutions, Inc. is fully certified with CalCERTS: License No.: 2005605.

It has the following training certifications with CalCERTS:

• Building Performance Contractor (BPC)
• Residential Alterations Rater
• Refrigerant Charge Analyst (RCA-1 & II) Rater
• Newly Constructed Home Rater
• Non-Residential (Commercial) Buildings Rater
• Whole House HERS II Rater
• HERS Quality Insulation Installation (QII)
• HERS-PV (Solar) Rater
• Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM) Rater 

J R Construction-Sol Solutions is among the first companies to be certified as a CalCERTS Building Performance Contractor (BPC) in the state of California (January 2012). This means that we are not only able to perform the Whole House Energy Performance Audit, but are also approved to perform the Home Performance Retrofit prescribed by the audit.

What are the Benefits of a HERS Certification?

A HERS Rating is a requirement for many green building and energy efficient building standards across the country, including ENERGY STAR for Homes. A HERS Rating is also a requirement for an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) and/or an Energy Improvement Mortgage (EIM).

CALGREEN SPECIAL INSPECTIONS

In addition to HERS Certifications, the CA Building Energy and Efficiency Standards - Title 24 specify certain Mandatory Measures that all residential and commercial building projects must adhere to during the entire phase of its remodel or new construction project. Local building departments, both city and county throughout the state of CA, have created a CALGreen CHECKLIST that guides the Owner or General Contractor in order to meet the MANDATORY MEASURES.  These Mandatory Measures require several field verification site visits in order to validate that the specific measures are ment during the scope of the remodel or construction project by an independent third-party entity.

A sample of some of the Mandatory Measures specify that:

• Proper storm water drainage and retention was managed during construction.
• Proper grading and paving was implemented to keep water away from buildings and foundations. 
• All energy efficiency standards either meet or exceed minimum standard design of the Energy Standards.
• Construction Waste & Debris Management Plan was implemented with a minimum 65% mixed-waste recycling was met.
• Proper water efficiency and conservation standards are met in all plumbing fixtures for indoor water use.
• Outdoor water use meets all MWELO (Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance) standards.
• An Operation and Maintenance Manual is created by the General Contractor for the Home Owner by the time of final inspection to provide them information of equipment specifications installed in their home and how to maintain it.
• Information of Enviornmental Quality and VOCs (Volitle Off-gas Compounds) installed in the home (adhesives, caulking, paints, sealants, glues, etc.) have met the minimum VOC Limits.
• Interior moisture control.
• Bathroom exhaust fans with an exhaust that terminates to the outside.
• HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems are properly designed and tested prior to final inspection.

A CALGreen Special Inspector typically fills out the CALGreen CHECKLIST and signs the form prior to Building Permit submittal. Then, prior to Final Inspection, the CALGreen Special Inspector signs and validates the form again indicating that all Mandatory Measures have been met. The final signed CALGreen CHECKLIST then is submitted to the Building Inspector at the time of Final Inspection.

It is important that the Owner and General Contractor hire a CALGreen Special Inspector proir to begining their remodel or new construction project so that proper construction planning takes place. The CALGreen CHECKLIST needs to be submitted and signed by the CALGreen Special Inspector then all plans are submitted to the Planning Dept. to obatin the project Building Permit.  NOTE:  The signed CALGreen Checklist must be printed on all approved DRAWINGS set prior submission to the local city or county building department. 

J R CONSTRUCTION - SOL SOLUTIONS, Inc. is a qualified CALGreen Special Inspector and provides Architects, Home Owners and/or General Contracor with the necessary site verification during the scope of construction and signs off at the end of the project prior to Final Inspection guaranteeing that the mandatory measure were met.

For more information about HERS Ratings, or to schedule a free phone consultation today, contact us here!